Review on 🪓 Estwing Special Edition Camper's Axe - Forged Steel Construction & Shock Reduction Grip - 16" Hatchet (Black-Special Edition) by Fritz Wiest

Great ax for lighting the campfire. At 16 inches, it takes some arm and forearm strength to guide one hand for any length of time. You can hold it close to your head for more precise control. I clamped the hatchet in a vise and sharpened the factory edge a little, then turned a club (mallet) with it. I cut a smaller handle from one end of a piece of hickory wood that was 4" in diameter and 14" long. This is a fairly heavy club and is excellent for ax blows. I use a hatchet instead of a frog. I take wood that has already been roughly chopped with a large sledgehammer and use an ax to make a smaller batch of kindling. I set the log upright, hold the hatchet in my other hand, and place the ax blade on the log where I want to start cleaving. This holds the log in place and keeps my hands off the tools, then I hit the hammer face with the ax with the wooden club. Warning - DO NOT strike this hatchet with a steel tool! Only use a different log or a specially made wooden club to avoid damaging the hatchet and avoiding flying metal splinters. The narrow head and sharp blade profile make it easy to separate 1/4" to 3/8" thick oak and hickory chips from one short and one 4" long piece of wood for use in a smokehouse or a rekindle old charcoal fires The beauty of this ax is that it is a solid piece of forged steel: if the ax gets stuck in a longer log before the log snaps apart you can hit the handle next to the head, to complete the cleaving, similar to using a hatchet Her.The thick rubber handle helps reduce the impact you feel in your other hand as you do this.Of course you can use it like any other hatchet for chopping, and through the extra length and weight allows you to cut with more power than smaller axes.Because the handle is very durable,you can use it without fear of the handle breaking.Beautiful Stickers and paint will of course fade with use - it's a real working tool. I laughed when someone complained about it. The sewn and riveted nylon sheath fits snugly to the body with 2 secure buckles. The hammer stays open so you can use it to drive in stakes or other objects while the scabbard is in place and the blade securely closed. The handle has a hole at the end that can be used for a cord loop for hanging on a nail. Resist the temptation to use it as a bracelet because if you ever lose your grip, it will spin on the bracelet, spin towards you and probably hit something you don't like!